Tafseer Ibn Kathir of YUNUS [17]

17. So who does more wrong than he who forges a lie against Allah or denies His Ayat Surely, the criminals will never be successful! No one is more of a criminal or has commit ted greater wrong than such a person. Liars cannot be confused with Prophets. Anyone who claims such a thing, whether lying or telling the t ruth, will necessarily be supported by Allah with proofs and signs of his falsehood or t ruthfulness. The dif ference between Muhammad and Musaylamah the liar, was clearer to those who met both of them than the dif ference between forenoon and midnight when it is ext remely dark. Those who are clear-sighted can dist inguish via signs and proofs between the t ruthfulness of Muhammad and the falsehood of Musaylamah the liar, Saj ah and Al-Aswad Al-` Ansi. Abdullah bin Salam said: "When Allah's Messenger arrived at Al-Madinah, people were scared away and I was one of them. But when I saw him, I realized that his face could never be the face of a liar. The first thing I heard f rom him was his statement :

(O people, spread the greet ings of peace, feed others, be dut iful to your relat ives and of fer prayers in the night when others are asleep so that you will enter Paradise in peace. )'' When Dimam bin Tha` labah came to Allah's Messenger and asked him in the presence of his people -- Banu Sa` d bin Bakr: "Who raised this heaven'' He replied,. (Allah). He asked: "And who erected these mountains'' He replied, (Allah). He asked: "Who spread out this earth'' He replied,. (Allah). Then he asked: "I ask you in the name of the One, Who raised the heavens, erected the mountains, and spread out this earth, has Allah sent you as a Messenger to all mankind'' He said, i

(By Allah, Yes! ) Then Dimam asked him about Salah, Zakah, Haj j and fast ing. With every quest ion he swore by Allah and with every response the Prophet swore also. Dimam then said: "You indeed are telling the t ruth. By the One Who sent you with the t ruth I will not increase or decrease f rom what you have told me. '' This man was content with the few responses of the Prophet . He was convinced of the Prophet 's t ruthfulness by the signs that he saw and witnessed. It was narrated that ` Amr bin Al-` As went to Musaylamah. ` Amr was not a Muslim at that t ime and he was a f riend of Musaylamah. Musaylamah said: "Woe unto you ` Amr. What was revealed unto your f riend -- meaning Allah's Messenger -- during this period'' ` Amr replied: "I heard his companions reading a short but great Surah. '' He asked, "And what was that '' He recited:

(By Al-` Asr (the t ime). Verily, man is in loss. ) until the end of the Surah. Musaylamah thought for a while and then said: "Something similar to that was also revealed to me. '' ` Amr asked: "And what is it '' He then recited: "O Wabr, O Wabr! You are only two ears and a breast . The rest of you is hollow. ' What do you think, ` Amr'' ` Amr then said: "By Allah, you know that I know that you are a liar. '' This was a statement made by an idolator in j udgment of Musaylamah. He knew Muhammad and his t ruthfulness. He also knew Musaylamah and his tendency toward falsehood and lying. People who think and have insight know even bet ter. Allah said:

(And who does more aggression and wrong than he who invents a lie against Allah or rej ects His Ayat . )

(So who does more wrong than he who forges a lie against Allah or denies His Ayat Surely, the criminals will never be successful! )No one is more .unj ust than he who belies the t ruth which the Messengers have brought supported with evidence and proof .